


I Think I Love You

by Lejays17



Category: Sinbad (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-13
Updated: 2013-07-13
Packaged: 2017-12-19 08:28:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lejays17/pseuds/Lejays17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Doctor and a Thief.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Think I Love You

Burning knowledge, how could they? Anwar was horrified. Sinbad and the rest of the crew didn’t understand; they knew things that were learnt on the streets and alleys and by-ways of the city, not from dusty scrolls and books. They didn’t feel the same sinking in their guts as he did when confronted by the piles of parchment heaped up in front of the university entrances, just waiting for the local guards to come along to put them to the torch.  
His mind whirled with the implications of what the scholar was saying about the changes to the regime, and the old magic coming back, so scientists and scholars were under close scrutiny, and that included the professors of the university.  
Movement behind him, and a soft voice asked, “Your father?”  
“Professor of Medicine,” he answered distractedly, running a hand over his face and trying to determine what the best course of action was. He had promised Sinbad to help him find his grandmother, but now knowing that his father may be in danger, he was torn. The family he was born into or the family he had made, which was more important? He came to a decision, blood-family first in this instance.  
“I’m sorry, I have to leave.”  
Sinbad answered, “Nothing to apologise for.”  
Nala interrupted. “But we agreed not to split up.” The Princess was always the voice of reason, but this time Anwar didn’t want to be rational, he had to see to his family’s safety.  
“I don’t have any choice, I have to warn them,” Anwar pleaded with Sinbad, trying to come up with a plan to escape from both Sinbad and Gunnar if Sinbad decided that they were safer sticking together.  
Surprisingly, Sinbad clasped Anwar’s hand, and said, “Go. Find your family. Take them to the Providence, they’ll be safe there. We’ll meet you later.”  
Anwar nodded, feet automatically turning towards home.  
“I’ll go with him,” Rina piped up. Both Sinbad and Anwar looked at her in surprise, Sinbad opened his mouth to disagree, Anwar was surprised that she would put herself in unknown danger for someone she didn’t know. Rina was self-sufficient, and kept herself to herself mostly, and Anwar was almost certain that she was carrying a torch for Sinbad since he had saved her from drowning when they had first met. He smiled involuntarily at the thought that she was choosing to go with him rather than Sinbad for once.  
“What?” she continued in the face of Sinbad’s obvious disapproval. “I know all the back ways and alleys in this city.” She gave Anwar a half-smile, “Wouldn’t want him getting lost.”  
He nodded back in gratitude, happier that someone would come with him in case things went bad. Although, this was not how he had planned on introducing Rina to his family. He knew that his father in particular would disapprove of his only son taking up with a street-thief of dubious background. Not that what Rina was or where she came from bothered Anwar in the slightest, but his father set great store by it, and Anwar wanted to please his father.

XXX

The two of them skittered through the deserted streets, keeping an anxious eye out for guard patrols. It wouldn’t do for them to be picked up for breaking some law they were unaware of, and they were easy targets, even with Rina taking them via as many back ways as she possibly could.  
“So, you lived around here?” he asked breathlessly, trying to keep watch every way at once.  
“Here, there, wherever I could find. A doorway, a rooftop, it wasn’t too bad,” she answered dismissively. “It was colour and life, and all sorts of people you couldn’t imagine.”  
This was more about her past than she had ever told him before, and he was anxious to keep the conversation going. He so rarely had the opportunity to talk with her about something that wasn’t the latest adventure Sinbad had dropped them into that he was relishing this chance. Even though he should have been concentrating on his parents.  
“I wonder if our paths ever crossed?” he mused, following her around the corner and up a flight of steps. They were getting closer to the courtyard where his family house was, he recognized some of the landmarks in the area now from when he had gotten lost coming back from his university studies.  
She turned to face him, a wicked smile on her face. Standing a couple of steps up the staircase meant their faces were level, and if he screwed up his courage (and avoided the small knife she had in her hand), he could lean in and kiss her. Something he had been thinking about a lot recently.  
“I doubt it,” she said. “I’d’ve robbed you and left you in the dust.” And with that, she raised her knife in a mock-threat, before turning and bounding up the steps again.  
He watched her for a moment, ruing yet again another missed opportunity, although he quite liked all his bits just where they were, and she could be mean with a knife if she thought she was threatened, before he gathered up the skirts of his robes and followed.

XXX

They still hadn’t encountered anyone by the time they got to the courtyard where his family house was located. “Where is everybody?” Anwar wondered aloud. There had always been a collection of aunties under the tree in the centre of the courtyard, gossiping about everyone who passed, and having no qualms about asking some of most embarrassing questions at the most inopportune times.  
He was about to cross the courtyard to the front door when Rina grabbed his wrist and pushed him back to the shelter of the arches. “You must know a back way in,” she hissed.  
Anwar shook his head. “What? Sorry?”  
“You mean you’ve never had to sneak in late?” Anwar could hear the rolling of her eyes in the tone of the question, and all of a sudden was feeling guilty that he had always been a good son, and didn’t have the sneaking around experience that Rina obviously expected him to have.  
“Typical.” With that, she ducked around the sandstone columns, grabbed his hand and pulled him along after her. Even after he was following along meekly, she didn’t let go of his hand. It was tiny compared to his, like everything else about her. But it fitted well, like it was meant to be there.  
Another couple of minutes ducking through small alleys that Anwar didn’t even know were there, even though he had lived in the neighbourhood his entire life, Rina stopped in front of a tiered wall with a window near the top.  
“This one,” she said confidently, letting go of his hand to point to the window above their heads.  
Resisting the urge to take back her hand – what was wrong with him? – Anwar shaded his eyes and peered up at the wall. “Are you sure?” he asked. “They all look the same to me.”  
This time he could see her rolling her eyes at him. “Of course I’m sure,” she snapped. “I don’t make a living from breaking into the wrong houses, you know.” With that, she scrambled up onto the narrow ledge and wriggled feet first through the open window. He heard a soft thud as her feet hit the floor, and then an approving “Very nice.”  
Anwar followed her clumsily up the wall, and through the window. Not being used to breaking into houses like Rina was, he crawled in head-first, and then discovered why she had gone feet-first. It was a long drop to the stone floor, and he was going to land on his head.  
Rina looked up at him from where she had crouched on the floor. “Come on then,” she said, barely hiding her smirk at his predicament.  
He wriggled a bit more; there was no way he was going to be able to get down in a dignified way. “Yes, I’m, ummm.”  
With a barely-concealed sigh, Rina took hold of his flailing arm, guided it to a hand-hold on the wall, and then braced herself as he let go and tumbled into a heap on the floor. He considered lying there until the embarrassment went away; it seemed that he was forever going to be making a fool of himself in front of her. But the slipper tapping an impatient rhythm on the floor just in front of his nose encouraged him to get up. He stood up hastily, ineffectually trying to brush the dust off his robes, and avoiding Rina’s gaze.  
He was about to suggest that they look for his parents, when the sound of footsteps and the swish of clothing could be heard through the archway to the rest of the house. It was too late to hide somewhere in the room, and Anwar braced himself for a shriek of surprise from whichever of the servants came through the door.  
An elegantly dressed woman appeared in the archway. A momentary look of surprise flashed across her face, followed by a beaming smile. “Anwar!”  
“Hello, mother,” he replied, returning her smile. This was unexpected, he couldn’t imagine what his mother would be doing in the storerooms, instead of one of the house servants, but he was grateful. It was one less round of explanations he would have to make, and he was going to have enough trouble trying to explain what he had been doing for the last few months. As well as why he was breaking into his own home in the company of a foreign woman. “So nice to see you again.”  
“Helene? Are you in there?” His father’s voice was followed shortly afterwards by his father. He stopped in the middle of the room, surprise at seeing his son flickering across his face.  
“Anwar, we’re so pleased you’re back.” His father pulled him into a bear hug, his mother fluttered around them both, a huge smile on her face. “We prayed and prayed for this moment.”  
Anwar pushed down the wave of guilt that flooded through him at the obvious joy that his parents displayed at his return. Maybe he should leave the Providence and come back home. It wasn’t as terrible a thought as it used to be. You’d miss her, though. A treacherous part of his mind flashed that thought to him, and he glanced involuntarily at a frowning Rina.  
His father saw the look, and asked, “So, are you going to introduce us to your new friend?” The way he stressed the word friend took Anwar aback slightly, there was something slightly unpleasant about it.  
“Oh, yes.” He crossed over to Rina’s side, and took her hand again to lead her over to his parents. She came reluctantly with him, bowing low as he said, “Mama, Papa, this is Rina.” He could feel her unease at the situation radiating up her tense arm, she had offered to come with him but she had not expected to meet his parents. He so wanted her to like them, and for them to like her in return.  
The doubtful looks both his parents gave her did not bode well for future happy families. Eternal optimist that he was, Anwar gave them all a hopeful smile. Rina squeezed his hand in response, her fingers lacing through his.

XXX

“You will stay for lunch of course,” his father said, indicating the table, which Anwar now saw had been set for four people. This was odd, given that there didn’t seem to be any guests in the house, and they couldn’t possibly have known that he and Rina were going to be there. This, coupled with the uneasy looks his mother and father kept passing between them, triggered the suspicious part of his mind, something that was rarely used. There was something going on here, something that probably wouldn’t be good for any of them.  
“Yes, please stay,” his mother urged, pulling out a seat, and beckoning Rina from the corner of the room where she had been trying to remain inconspicuous.  
Rina joined them at the table, piling her plate high with food, and then ate her way quickly, albeit neatly through the whole amount. Anwar had noticed that on the ship, she would take her plate of food away from the rest of them to eat, as if she were worried that someone would try to take it away from her before she could finish. From what Anwar had learned earlier today, it now made sense that she did this – living on the streets would have meant always keeping an eye out for people trying to take things away from her.  
Helene looked faintly disgusted by the haste at which Rina ate; his mother was very strict about manners and table manners in particular. But she was also polite enough to not say anything directly about it to a guest under her roof.  
“So, Rina, what do you do?” she asked in an effort to break the silence that overwhelmed the group.  
Rina stilled, a hunted look passed across her face as she met Anwar’s eyes. He gave a small shake of his head, and she replied, “I’m in the jewellery trade.” This was true enough, except she was in the habit of relieving rich people of their jewels and then selling them for her own gain.  
Rina swallowed her mouthful, and in an effort to keep the conversation going, said “You must be very proud of Anwar being a doctor.”  
His mother gave a short laugh. “Oh, Anwar isn’t a qualified doctor. He’s only a student doctor. We were so worried when he ran away to sea before he completed his studies.”  
Anwar choked as the water he had sipped went down the wrong way. He had been careful never to say that he was a qualified doctor to anyone on the ship, but also hadn’t corrected anyone who assumed that he was. And he liked how the others looked up to him because of it, even Sinbad. It was the one thing he could contribute to the crew. Sinbad and Gunnar were the muscle, Cook was, well, Cook, Rina was the street-smart thief, but he was the doctor that fixed them up whenever they needed medical assistance.  
Now Rina was looking at him like she’d never seen him before, and he wanted to take back the last few hours, and not come to rescue his parents, who didn’t seem to be at all concerned about the situation in the city, and that would mean that Rina would not have found out about his secret, and she wouldn’t be giving him that accusing look. Thoughts ran round in circles in his mind, and he missed part of what his father said next.  
“…university tutors to accept him back.” He gave his wife a satisfied smile. “It’s not open for discussion.”  
Anwar opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it again without saying anything. He knew from past experiences that arguing would get him nothing except banishment to his room, and he already felt like a foolish child. Rina gave him an angry and disappointed look across the table, and his stomach turned over. She was going to leave him, go back to the ship and tell everyone the truth, and he would never be able to show his face there again.  
Rina shook her head quickly, muttered, “Excuse me,” and pushed her chair back from the table then stormed out of the room.  
“Don’t follow her, son,” his father ordered. “We need to discuss certain matters. We are expecting you to complete your studies this year, and not go running off with these new friends of your again. And we certainly don’t want you bringing girls home before your studies are done. There will be plenty of time afterwards for your mother to find you a suitable wife.”  
It was the last sentence that made up Anwar’s mind. He was happy to let his parents organise his life for the most part, but he had very definite ideas when it came to marriage and who would be a suitable wife. “Thank you very much for the meal, but we really should be leaving now. We have things to do before sailing tonight.”  
He sketched a bow to his parents and followed Rina from the room. He hoped that she hadn’t left the house entirely; he’d never find her again if she had. And that was something he did not want to think about.  
She was pacing up and down the corridor, inspecting the small items on the shelves lining it. “Finally!” she hissed. “I thought I’d have to come back in there and drag you out.” She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him further down the corridor. “Think about it Anwar. They haven’t even asked you where you’ve been. Why? Because they know!”  
He shook his head slightly, and crossed his arms in front of his body.  
She continued, “They enrolled you in university starting next week. How would they have known you were going to be here unless someone told them?”  
“My parents wouldn’t do that,” he insisted, even though he saw the sense in what she was saying. Two pairs of footsteps came along the corridor, stopping at the bottom of the stairs opposite where the two of them stood.  
“Anwar, you’ve made a terrible mistake, but Akbiri promised that no harm would come to you. You have a bright future ahead of you. Please,” his father pleaded.  
Rina was right. His parents had betrayed him, and all his friends. “No,” he said in disbelief.  
Rina stalked forward, “Don’t you understand? There will be no university when Akbiri becomes Emir.”  
“How dare a common thief like you talk about these things?” his mother said haughtily, her face screwed up in an expression of distaste.  
Something inside Anwar’s chest broke at those words. “She’s not a common thief,” he spat back. He could see Rina from the corner of his eye, looking at the floor as if she was ashamed of herself. “And even if she was, how would you know that?”  
Their attention was caught by noises from the courtyard. It sounded like a group of men, probably guards as there was a distinct metallic ringing underneath the tramp of feet.  
“They’re here,” his father said. “Give her up son, it’s for the best.”  
“No.” An involuntary immediate response. He wouldn’t give Rina up for anything or anyone. If they were going to take her, they’d have to take him too.  
Rina’s survival instincts kicked in the minute his father had said to give her up. She flicked a glance around the room, and met Anwar’s eyes momentarily, before running down the corridor to the right, two guards in pursuit.  
“Don’t either of you dare say another word. If any harm comes to her, I’ll never forgive you,” he stated flatly. He followed the two guards at a flat run, hoping he wasn’t too late to help.  
He arrived at the balcony overlooking the street just in time to see four guards bundle Rina into the cage on the back of a cart and lock the gate. “Rina!” he shouted.  
His parents had followed him out onto the balcony. His father laid a hand on his arm. “It’s for the best,” he said comfortingly.  
Anwar shook his father’s hand off and gave them both a look of pure loathing, before running down the stairs and into the street. The cart with Rina in the back rumbled off to the east, towards the Emir’s palace. He quickly calculated the most likely place he could effect a rescue, and took off running to the west. One of the main roads between here and the palace ran alongside a two-storied apartment building, the second story had a balcony with open arches that he could jump from if he had to.  
Praying that he wasn’t too late, Anwar took the stairs two at a time to the second floor. He looked out one of the arches to see the cart with Rina and two guards about half-way along the building. He kept running, occasionally checking that they weren’t going to take another street out of the square, and that his hastily put-together plan was going to work.  
The cart reached the end of the building and turned right, as he had hoped. If he timed things just right, he would be able to jump off the building, and land on top of the cage, knock the two guards out and free the girl.  
Alas, the best laid plans go oft awry, and Anwar’s was not a best-laid plan. The cart turned the corner; he steeled himself and leapt into space. Missing the cart completely, he landed with a thud on the cobblestones. The wind completely knocked out of him, he thought it would be a very sensible idea just to lie there quietly for a few minutes and think of a new plan to rescue Rina.  
Soft metallic jingling came closer. He knew that he should get up off the ground and defend himself, but he was still too sore. Maybe whoever it was would just ignore him.  
A shadow fell over him, and someone tapped him on the shoulder. He groaned with the effort of turning over, but was rewarded with the vision of Rina standing over him, hands on hips and saying, “That was a rescue attempt? What was your plan? Hope they take sympathy on you and stop the cart? Really, Anwar.” But she smiled, and that took the sting out of her words.  
Still breathless, he asked, “So, how did you…?” his voice trailed off, and he ended up waving one hand in the air to indicate she answer. The other hand held onto his sore ribs.  
“Oh, that,” she said dismissively. “Idiot guards, forgot to check for my knife.” She took the short-handled knife she carried in her waist-band out to illustrate her point before tucking it back away. Anwar was reminded that she had lived on the streets for a long time, and had no qualms about using violence to defend herself if necessary. “Almost feel sorry for them,” she sniffed.  
Anwar gave a grunt of acknowledgement at her words. She focussed back on him, “So, how’s the family?” she asked.  
“Pretty much disowned myself,” he answered ruefully. Although, if he went back now, he may be able to smooth things over again. It’s just whether he thought it would be worth it.  
Rina gave a small quirk of her lips, not quite enough to be called a smile. “You’re better off without them.” Then she added, fearing she was being too nice, and that didn’t fit with the persona she had been cultivating for years, “I mean, a failed rescue attempt like that would only bring more shame to the family.”  
She leaned down and offered her hand. “Come on then.” Pulling him to his feet, she surprised him by wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in the front of his robes. “Thank you,” she said into his chest, a few tears leaking from her eyes. Anwar was such a loyal friend, and she didn’t deserve it.  
“You’re welcome,” he answered in surprise. He tentatively encircled her with his arms, and let his chin rest on top of her head. They fit together well, and he let himself wonder momentarily what it would be like to be able to do this all the time. He also knew in his heart of hearts that while Sinbad was about and unattached, all the women would flock to his dangerous charisma, leaving Anwar to watch from the sidelines. And with Rina, he also had the extra attraction of actually saving her life, not just trying and failing at it.  
One last sniffle, and Rina pushed away from him. He let his arms drop to his sides instantly, already feeling the loss of her warmth. If he wasn’t careful, he would let himself fall hard for her, even further than he already had anyway.  
“We’d best get back to the ship,” she said, taking a few steps away from him and turning towards the port. “Either Sinbad will have defeated Akbiri and we can go freely, or Akbiri has won, and we’ll need to leave as soon as possible. Either way, back to the ship.”  
She set off purposely down the cobbles, not waiting for him to acknowledge her plan. So, things returned to their normal state of affairs, with her taking the lead, and him following along behind.  
XXX  
Back on the Providence, Sinbad was at a bit of a loss. The enemy who had been pursuing him for so long was no more, and there was no longer any need to keep running. Apart from a desire to see what was around the next corner, or over the far horizon.  
“Well, you missed the most amazing thing!” Rina exclaimed cheerfully from her spot on the deck between Nala and Anwar. “Anwar. Rescuing me. From a heavily armed prison cart!”  
Sinbad smirked disbelievingly. “Really?” he asked sarcastically.  
Anwar hid his face in his hands. He thought that they had worked things out, and now she was going to make fun of his patheticness in front of the rest of the crew.  
“Really! I’ve never seen anything like it!” She grinned in his direction, and Anwar was relieved that she was not going to say anything else.  
“She’s exaggerating a little bit,” he said. He looked over to her, remembering what it was like to hug her. He would have to keep that memory at the front of his mind, as it was unlikely to happen again in the near future. “Or a lot. But I was very brave.” This earned him a laugh from all the crew, and all was right in his world again.  
XXX  
For the fifth night in a row, Anwar woke in a cold sweat with a ghostly feeling of multiple things skittering up and down his body. At least this time it was just a feeling, and not the quite terrifying images of scorpions with the face of Rina. He had been so shaken by that dream that even Sinbad had noticed, and had pried the reason out of him. To Sinbad’s credit, he hadn’t teased very much about it, just occasional sly remarks whenever Rina was in earshot.  
To her credit, Rina wasn’t behaving any differently towards him since Basra. If anything, she was being slightly nicer, seeking him out at the evening meal and sitting with him, instead of taking her food up on deck by herself. Perhaps he was imagining things that weren’t there, but she also seemed to be spending less time with Sinbad than she had before.  
Climbing the ladder up onto the deck, he was hoping for some solitude, a rare luxury on the ship when they were sailing. However, Sinbad was already sitting on the side of the ship, staring morosely out to sea. He turned at the sound of Anwar’s footsteps, and in an effort to be cheerful, “You’re up early.”  
“I’ve just had the worst dream.”  
Sinbad laughed. “You’ve been dreaming of those scorpions with Rina’s face again haven’t you? You really shouldn’t worry so much about her; you saved her life in Basra.”  
Carefully, “Maybe the way she tells that story isn’t what really happened…” His sentence trailed off when it became obvious that Sinbad wasn’t listening to him.  
“Do you see what I see?” he asked, shading his eyes with his hand and squinting into the distance.  
With a sigh, Anwar concluded yet again that he was the least important member of the crew, and pushed him further towards a decision he had been avoiding since Basra. He dutifully joined Sinbad and peered in the same direction. “Land?” he hazarded.  
Sinbad’s face lit up. “Yes, exactly. And that means fun and adventures. Wake the others, we’re going ashore!”  
XXX  
Leaving Cook behind to guard the ship as usual – Anwar suspected that there was a definite reason Cook never seemed to leave the ship, but hadn’t had the time to properly investigate it – Sinbad rowed them to the shore for a chance to go through the wreckage on the shore and hopefully find something of use to them.  
Wandering away from the others, their glee in picking over the boxes and barrels vaguely distasteful to him, Anwar’s eye was caught by sunlight glinting off something metallic up the hill behind the beach. This led him to a cave, and a mysterious box, which led to another round of Sinbad is wonderful and Anwar is useless. But then the box disappeared, and in its place was a beautiful girl who claimed she was a god. The others didn’t believe it, but Anwar knew that she was telling the truth. Or what she believed was the truth, anyway.  
As Sinbad had told Cook to sail the Providence around the island until he came to a bay that was deep enough to sail into, the five of them were trekking around the coast until they found him. Night fell before they could meet the ship, so Gunnar found a suitable overhang for them to camp under for the night, and allocated them all tasks in setting up camp. The god Kuji was made exempt from any tasks as every time she was asked to do something, she smiled sunnily and said, “That is an excellent question. Unfortunately, you’ve had your three questions, and I am unable to answer any more.”  
Sinbad and Gunnar did the bulk of the setting up, Rina ferried armloads of wood to the fire pit, muttering under her breath in a language that Anwar didn’t recognize and sending Kuji filthy looks whenever they passed. Once the fire was well-established, they drew lots as to who was in charge of the cooking – Kuji excluded again – and Rina drew the short straw. More muttering, but an edible meal was produced in short order. Kuji was effusive as she previously had been over the meal, but it didn’t endear her any further to Rina, if anything it made her more suspicious.  
Anwar took over lookout duties from Rina, and she settled down on her blanket on the opposite side of the fire to where he and Kuji were sitting to sleep. She was just drifting off when she heard Kuji ask, “You’re sad. Why?”  
“You can tell I’m sad?” He did sound sad, now that Kuji mentioned it, Rina could hear it in his voice, he’d been sounding that way all day. He sighed. “It was my birthday today.”  
Rina’s eyes flew open at that. He had been asking everyone today if they knew what day it was, and no one had taken any notice of it. Come to think of it, he had been quiet even by his standards, since they had been to see his parents at Basra. She felt terrible that she had not done more to include him in things, had not made more of an effort, but truthfully she had been embarrassed that she had opened herself up to him, and had let him see a part of him that she usually kept carefully hidden away.  
Rina listened unashamedly to the conversation between Anwar and Kuji. “The others are so instinctive, so brilliant. They rush into things without thinking, and that’s all I do. I think too much, and I don’t do.” A short pause, then he continued, “Rina has told everyone I saved her in Basra. When the truth of it is I hesitated and at that moment, let her be taken.”  
He sounded so despondent that Rina wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be alright. She had no idea that her telling everyone that he had saved her had had the opposite effect to what she had intended. It was supposed to make him feel more confident in his physical abilities, not just his brains, and it had failed spectacularly.  
“So, you’re not brave then?” Kuji asked softly.  
“It’s not just that. Its taken being my birthday to realise that I’m useless, and I need to go home.”  
The silence lengthened, and Rina realised that nothing more was going to be said. She mulled over the things she had learned tonight. The thing that upset her the most was that he hadn’t told any of the crew what he was feeling, and instead had told a complete stranger, who was probably not a god, but who knew the right words to say. Rina was bad with words, actions suited her much better, and the words she had used had made things worse, not better as she had wanted them too. The crew were too much of a family for her – much more than her blood-family – for her to want them to split any further than they already had. At least Nala was only in Basra, and they would see her when they went back. But if she had to choose which of her family she didn’t want to leave for any reason, Anwar would have been her first choice. Now he was serious about leaving the Providence, and going back to the awful controlling life his parents had mapped out for him, and they’d never let him go again. That meant that she wouldn’t see him ever again as his parents despised her and all she stood for.  
With visions of the best way to fix what had gone wrong with Anwar, and to get rid of the false-god Kuji in the process (she wasn’t a threat, really she wasn’t), Rina slipped into a deep sleep.  
XXX  
A round of “Anywhere but Here” that Rina started to pass the time crystallized her decision to talk to Anwar before too much longer. Everyone’s plans involved something exotic, she wanted to be on a gold and jewel-covered throne, looking down on people, Gunnar wanted girls and food and fighting, but not necessarily in that order, and Sinbad wanted to be home in Basra with his brother, fishing for crabs in the bay. Anwar hadn’t wanted to play, until the god Kuji asked him point-blank. He answered morosely, “I’d be home. With my books. Doing what needed to be done.” Rina wanted to drop back to his side and say something to try and cheer him up, but Kuji had stuck to him like glue since he woke up. She didn’t seem to be all that interested in anyone but Anwar, and in not answering anyone’s questions, no matter now minor or trivial they were.  
A confrontation with an army of men on horses, demanding they hand over the god Kuji – which Rina would quite happily have done – and giving them until sunset the next day to do so, meant that they were holding a council of war on the beach.  
“Well, let’s put it to a vote,” Rina proposed. “All those in favour of handing her over, raise your hand.” With that, she raised her hand straight up in the air, encouraging the others to do the same.  
“Rina!” Anwar said in a shocked voice. He was interrupted, as usual, by Sinbad.  
“We don’t need a vote, we need a plan.” He looked around the group, but no one had any ideas. He focussed on Kuji. “Can you tell us anything about these men?”  
Rina rolled her eyes, hadn’t he worked out that she wasn’t going to answer anything any of them put to her as a question yet? Kuji sat there mutely, giving Anwar an odd look as if she expected him to answer for her.  
Plans were discussed and discarded, Rina piping up now and then with the plan just to tie Kuji up and leave her for the army. This was rejected outright each time she mentioned it, and Anwar grew angrier with each plan. Especially the ones than called for Kuji to be left out as bait. Finally they settled down to sleep with only a bizarre plan of Gunnar’s to dig a bear pit to catch the army.  
Rina was determined to stay awake to make sure that Kuji didn’t sneak off during the night and leave them all to the not-so-tender mercies of the army in the morning, but the long day of walking and arguing meant that the next thing she knew it was morning, and Anwar and Kuji weren’t there anymore.  
Gunnar said, “He’s gone. They’ve gone.”  
Rina sat bolt upright, heart sinking to her toes. He’d actually left them to the angry army without a second thought. “But why would he leave with her?” she asked plaintively.  
Gunnar leered cheerfully as he started packing up his bedding. “Is he wrong to go? Love. The things we do for love.”  
Rina felt as though she was going to be sick at the thought that Anwar loved Kuji. “Lust. He barely knows the girl,” she blurted out before her thoughts caught up with her mouth.  
Sinbad looked at her oddly. “He knows her well enough,” he said dismissively, following Gunnar’s lead and rolling his bedding into a neat roll. Anwar had made his choice, and taken the rest of the crew out of the equation.  
“So what do we do now?” she pressed. That the other two were packing up their belongings did not bode well for rescuing Anwar from whatever predicament he had got himself into. And Kuji, if they had to, she grudgingly added.  
“We’d be walking towards our certain death,” Gunnar said.  
“But it’s Anwar!” Rina said, as if repeating this fact would make them change their minds.  
Gunnar shrugged, stuffing clothes into the bag he was holding. “He dies, with or without us.” He gave her a knowing look. “Last night you wanted to tie the girl up and leave her.”  
Rina scrambled to her feet, determined to make the other two change their minds and go after Anwar and Kuji. “Her! Her, not him!”  
“We had a plan, and he ruined it. I know battle. I know war. He is lost.”  
Sinbad looked up from his packing. “So we do nothing? We just let him die?”  
Rina looked over to where he was sitting, hope blossoming. Maybe Sinbad would be able to convince Gunnar to help where she had failed.  
“I’m not losing anyone else,” Sinbad said flatly. “We are going after Anwar. It’s not in me to do anything else.”  
“No, neither do I,” Gunnar agreed. And just like that, the three of them were in agreement to go after them.  
XXX  
Once they had caught up with Anwar and Kuji at the beach – Anwar looking very surprised that they had come after them was one of the things Rina remembered clearly. She wanted to tell him that she would always come after him, but a modicum of self-respect held her tongue. After that, things became mostly dream-like. She remembered being shot with an arrow, and Anwar crying that it was all his fault, and then nothing. And then there was coughing from the water’s edge, and her face was covered by an old cloak, and there wasn’t a hole in her tunic, and more importantly her stomach. And Anwar was smiling in a way she hadn’t seen before, a serene and confident smile.  
“Where’s the girl?” she asked abruptly, realising that she was missing, along with all the soldiers who had been surrounding them moments before. “Where’s Kuji?”  
“She had to go,” was all the explanation Anwar ever gave, so matter how much they badgered him about it.  
XXX  
Cook finally sailed the Providence into the cove they were in, after Sinbad and Gunnar had another spirited discussion over whether it would be better to wait for it to turn up, or continue walking around the shore line until they found it. Anwar held himself separate from the discussion, gazing out over the water like he expected something to materialise there if he waited long enough.  
Rina sat on an upturned barrel, hugging her knees to her chest, mulling over the revelations she had had over the last few days. Anwar was a sweet man, who cared very much about his friends, so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself to save them. She remembered what it was like to hug him in Basra, how they seemed to be a natural fit together, and that he hadn’t said anything to the crew when she hadn’t told the complete truth about him rescuing her. She imagined if the hug had been more than a friendly reassuring one, if she had stood on tiptoes and kissed him. Would he have become so attached to the god Kuji in such a short time if she had done that? She suspected that he would not have, his face was an open book to someone who knew how to read them, and she had seen the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t watching.  
She reached a decision, and called out, “Anwar?”  
He turned round immediately, the beginnings of a smile chasing across his face. She beckoned him over, sliding off the barrel and offering the seat to him. He took it, wriggling slightly to make himself comfortable. With him sitting and her standing, their faces were level, which is what she had hoped for.  
“I wanted to make sure you were okay after everything that’s happened. And to wish you a happy birthday for yesterday, and I’m sorry I didn’t do this at the time.” She leaned forward, sliding her hand around his neck and pressing her lips to his. After a moment’s surprise, Anwar put his arms around her waist, and leaned into the kiss.  
She could tell that he had rarely, if ever, kissed a girl before, but was happy for her to take the lead. And she was more than happy to take it. His beard and moustache veered between tickling and scratching her face, but on the whole it was nice. She thought that with a bit more practice, Anwar would make an excellent kisser, and she planned on giving him plenty of practice.  
So involved with the sensations of rightness she was feeling (as well as certain other feelings which she was going to have to explore further), she had forgotten that they were in the middle of the beach with others around, until a loud shout broke them apart. “Oy, you two! Time to go!”  
Anwar sat there for a moment longer, a stunned look on his face. Rina offered him her hand which he took and curled his fingers through hers. Again, there was a sense of rightness when they were connected.  
“What was all that about?” Sinbad asked. One thing that Sinbad lacked was a sense of tact, if he wanted to know anything, he was going to come straight out and ask, no matter the potential embarrassment to others.  
She shrugged slightly, dropping Anwar’s hand now they had reached the row boat. A hurt look flitted momentarily across his face, and he climbed into the stern of the boat. He studiously avoided her eyes when she sat next to him, and moved his arm when she brushed against it.  
“It was his birthday yesterday, and everyone should get a present for their birthday,” she replied.  
“Brilliant! It’s my birthday tomorrow, I’m sure. Will I get a similar present?” They fell back into the easy flirting that had characterised their relationship since the beginning.  
“Maybe, it will all depend on what else you might think is a suitable present for your birthday. I’m up for negotiation, as always.” She gave Sinbad a cheeky grin, and he laughed in response.  
XXX  
Anwar was silent as they prepared to sail. As soon as they left the bay, he disappeared down into the hold, and hid in one of the dark corners. It was something that they all did on occasion when the thought of having to see each other for another minute became unbearable, so Rina thought nothing of it. He didn’t appear for the evening meal, even though Sinbad and Gunnar shouted down the hold that it was ready, and if he didn’t come now they were going to eat his share.  
There was still no sign of Anwar when they turned in for the night, and Rina was now getting a bit concerned that he’d knocked himself out or something equally dramatic, and made up her mind that she would go looking for him if he hadn’t appeared by morning.  
But he was in his cabin when she woke up the next morning, crashing around and making far more noise than was called for at that time of the day.  
She poked her head through the door, “Good morning Anwar. I was beginning to think you were never going to come out of the hold.”  
His back stiffened at the sound of her voice, and he stopped shuffling his books and scrolls around. “Oh, I didn’t think anyone would miss me. Especially not you.” His voice contained a strange mixture of anger and disappointment, and something else that Rina couldn’t quite place. But it was very unlike his usual happy tones.  
“Of course we missed you. Like we all miss Nala now that she’s decided to stay in Basra.” Anwar still didn’t turn to face her, moving scrolls from one shelf to another.  
Rina reached out with one hand to make him turn and face her, but dropped it without touching him. Something had happened to upset him, and he didn’t want to talk about it. And there was nothing she could do to make him confide in her. She finally said, “If you want to talk about things, I’m here.”  
XXX  
Anwar stayed with his back to the door until he was sure that she had gone away. She was so light on her feet that he hadn’t even heard her leave, but he couldn’t feel her looking at him any longer. His shoulders slumped forward, and he rested his head against the wooden bulkhead. What was he going to do now? He had thought for a few glorious minutes, when Rina had kissed him on the beach, that she thought of him as more than a friend and crew-mate, but that had been dashed when she had treated it as no big deal, and had flirted with Sinbad a couple of minutes later. He was well aware of the appeal that Sinbad had on women, and not a few men, and it wasn’t something he possessed. He was the smart one, the one who solved problems with his brains, not running at them with a sword in the hope they would run away. The sword-running thing seemed to be infinitely more attractive to people, in his experience, than the logical thinking-things-through thing.  
Even with the battle on the beach, he had only been trusted with a tiny dagger, barely enough to make opponents laugh before they attempted to take his head off with the giant sword they all carried.  
No decision made about Rina, Anwar emerged from his cabin to take his turn on deck, doing the various sailor-type activities that Gunnar and Sinbad had deemed him able to perform. These seemed to usually involve plotting their course on a ragged collection of maps – he really should buy some updated ones next time he was in port – or cleaning the decks.  
So engrossed in his own thoughts, he nearly walked into Cook, who was standing at the bottom of the ladder to the deck. The man looked at Anwar seriously, and said, “Brawn not all.” As cryptic comments went, this was one of Cook’s better ones, Anwar thought.  
“Uh, sure,” Anwar answered, running his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture. The squat man had puzzled him since the first they had met, Anwar was sure there was something peculiar about his insistence to never leave the ship, and his often arcane knowledge of the seas and lands they visited. He had mentioned this to Sinbad once, and Sinbad had just laughed it off with a comment that Cook had been sailing for many years, more than either of them had been alive, and it was only natural he was attached to the ship and knew things. After that, Anwar kept his suspicions to himself, but continued to gather information.  
“You’ll learn truth of saying soon enough,” Cook continued. Then his demeanour changed, and he hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Up on deck with you, sailing wrong way and they need you to find us.”  
Just after this, Sinbad’s face appeared at the hatch. “Hurry up, somebody didn’t take the bearing at the right time, and we’ve floated off who knows where!”  
Gunnar disputed Sinbad’s interpretation of events, and soon a three-way argument was happening, Sinbad and Gunnar bickering over who was at fault for not taking the reading, and Rina’s clear voice adding comments in favour of both sides. To Anwar’s mind, she seemed to be favouring Sinbad’s side more than Gunnar’s, which shouldn’t have surprised him. He closed his eyes in resignation, ascended the ladder to the deck, and went to the maps table.  
Rina sat cross-legged on the side of the ship, holding onto one of the numerous ropes that festooned the ship, and laughing at the argument. The arrival of Anwar dried up her laughter, and he was acutely conscious of her eyes on the back of his head as he mapped out their position.  
The tension between them was so palpable that even the insensitive Sinbad felt it. Being underdeveloped in the tact department, he tackled the problem head-on, by blurting out, “What’s up between the two of you? You were looking fine on the beach yesterday, and today Anwar looks like someone kicked his puppy.”  
“Nothing’s wrong,” Rina answered defensively, straightening her legs and preparing to run if she had to.  
Rina’s words felt like a stab in the stomach to Anwar. He hunched lower over the map table, scribbling figures in an effort to look busy. They made no sense at all, as he would find when he went back over them later that night. But at the moment they provided a cover from a conversation that he didn’t want to have. Even though it was going to have to happen eventually.  
“Rubbish,” Sinbad said instantly. “You just have to look at him to know that.” He waved his hand in Anwar’s general direction to illustrate his point. The three on deck turned to look at Anwar, including Gunnar, who looked thoroughly bored with the whole thing and just wanted to hit something.  
“Stop looking at me like that!” he snapped, throwing down his brush in annoyance. “She said there’s nothing wrong, why don’t you believe her.”  
“Because I’ve been living with the pair of you for the last few months and you’re acting strangely, even for you.” He crossed his arms across his chest and glared impartially at the two of them. “And I’m not going to let up until you’ve worked it out, so you may as well stop denying it and just fix it.”  
“You can’t make us!” Rina said hotly, she hated feeling like she being forced into things.  
“Fix it, or I’m tossing you off the ship here and now.”  
Grimacing at Sinbad, the two of them reluctantly went to the bow of the ship, out of earshot of Sinbad and Gunnar. Anwar leaned against the side of the ship, arms crossed and staring out at the horizon. He didn’t want to meet Rina’s gaze, and most certainly didn’t want to talk about things with her either. But he also knew that Sinbad would make good on his threat to throw them overboard if they didn’t at least make an attempt to speak. He would probably regret it as soon as he had done it, but he would still do it.  
A sniff from Rina pulled his attention away from the horizon; he glanced quickly her way and caught her wiping the back of her hand across her face. As angry as he was with her, he hated to think that he made her cry. She was a tough girl, had to be to survive for as long as she had as a street-rat, and tears weren’t a part of her general makeup.  
He took an involuntary half-step towards her, hand outstretched to touch her arm. It dropped before they made contact when she said, “Why are you so angry? Do you think you should have not listened to Kuji, and gone back to your studies?”  
He frowned, did they – did she – really think that was what the problem was, that he wanted to leave the ship and go back to his confining existence in Basra with his parents? To leave her and the others?  
“No, that’s not why I’m angry,” he replied. He slid down until he was sitting on the deck, leaning against the bow, and wrapping his arms around his bent knees. It was a position of defence, and one he slipped into naturally whenever he felt unsure about anything. Rina remained standing, and when he squinted up at her, she was surrounded by a halo of sunlight that strongly reminded him of the icons in the Christian churches. Not that Rina was saint-like in any other way.  
“Why then? It’s unlike you to be angry like this. Please tell me Anwar, I just want to know.” Her voice broke a little in the last sentence, and Anwar’s stomach turned over in response. He ran over the pros and cons of telling her the truth, or some part of the truth at least, like he had a hundred times in the last two days. It only seemed to end in two ways, complete disaster or total humiliation.  
With a small shrug, he started talking. “Don’t say anything til I finish. It’s going to be hard enough saying this without you interrupting.”  
Rina gave a small murmur of assent, and collapsed gracefully into a cross-legged position opposite him.  
“I’ve never been a confident person when it comes to people,” he started slowly, trying to get his thoughts in order. “Oh, I’m clever with books and learning, and give me a problem and I’m happy working it out, but people I just don’t get.  
“Then I ended up on the ship with all of you, and I had a group of friends who accepted me as I am. Sinbad, Gunnar, Nala, even Cook are all far better to me than my own family is. My parents do love me, but they don’t really understand me, and I’m tired of trying to fit into who they want me to be.  
“And then there’s you.” He hugged his knees closer to his chest. This was harder than he thought it would be, but he was determined to finish what he had started. “You’re smart, and fun, and really pretty, and you actually seemed to notice who I was. And I thought you were interested in Sinbad for the longest time, so I figured I’d stay in the background and just be a good friend to you. I respect your decisions and wouldn’t want you to feel bad about me.  
“You came to see my parents and they were horrible to you, but you don’t hold that against me. And then, even though I was completely useless, and you had to rescue me, you told everyone that it was me who did the rescuing. And I wanted so badly to tell you what that meant to me, that you tried to make me look like a hero instead of the fool I usually am. But I hesitated like usual, and the opportunity was gone.”  
He looked up at the end of the sentence to meet her dark eyes. “Oh, Anwar,” she whispered. “My poor boy.”  
Anwar’s heart jumped at the obvious affection in her tone. Maybe it wasn’t a lost cause after all.  
He continued with his confession, or what he was considering to be a confession. “Kuji clouded my mind over certain things, but one thing I was always sure of was that you are the most important person in this world to me. When you were shot with that arrow, I just froze. I’m the doctor and I couldn’t do anything for you. It was Sinbad and Gunnar who looked after you.  
“And then Kuji reset the world because I made a decision to stay with you all, and you kissed me because it was my birthday which was just amazing, but then you said to Sinbad that it meant nothing much, which was the worst thing ever. And now I’m terribly confused, which makes me angry and upset. It’s not just with you, it’s with everything.” His voice trailed away and the hollow feeling in his chest returned at her continued silence.  
A creak of the deck, a rustle of cloth shifting, then a pair of arms circled his shoulders and squeezed him tightly. Rina murmured into his ear, “Oh Anwar. I had no idea it was like this. I’m used to men being very direct with their wants, and I know how to deal with them. But you, you’re so clever, and I’ve never met anyone like you before, and I can’t treat you like I do Sinbad because he understands the game and the rules, and you don’t. And I’ve hurt you and I’m truly sorry about that because I care about you a lot. More than I ever imagined I would when I first met you, anyway.” Another squeeze of her arms, this time accompanied by pressing her lips to the top of his head in an awkward kiss.  
Anwar couldn’t believe what she was saying. He gently detached her arms from around his neck, and twisted so he was facing her comfortably. He didn’t let go of her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. Dark eyes met dark eyes, and a shy smile was exchanged.  
“So, if I had said something to you about this earlier, any time earlier, I could have saved myself a lot of sleepless nights, and a lot of needless worrying,” Anwar asked softly, running the fingers of his free hand along the bare skin of Rina’s arm, watching her closely to see if she indicated in any way that she didn’t like it.  
In response, Rina leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “If you had said something earlier, I would have had less sleepless nights too. I’m terrified that you’re going to leave us, leave me, when you discover that this isn’t the life for you. That’ll you go back to your family, who are well-known and respectable, and will not let a thieving street-rat willingly into their house.”  
He started to shake his head in disbelief at what she was saying, but then realised that everything she said about his family was true. His mother more than his father maybe, but neither of them were happy to have Rina eat at their table. “After the last time, I’m probably no longer welcome in my parents’ house either.” He gave her a shy, half-hopeful smile. “So, I guess you won’t mind that we’re going to be stuck together on this ship for a while to come then?”  
“Nothing would make me happier,” she said with a wide smile. Then she cocked her head on one side and added mischievously, “Except for being a princess on a throne in a beautiful dress with many jewels, and people to obey my every whim.”  
Anwar’s face fell slightly at that, he would never be able to make her a princess and give her the things that she wanted. That would mean that if someone came along who could offer her that, she would go without a second thought, and he would be left behind again.  
“Oh, Anwar, I’m joking. No amount of jewels or dresses from a mythical prince would ever make up for the certainty of a student doctor’s hugs and kisses. And those mean more to me than I could ever tell you.” She lifted their joined hands to her cheek, and held them there, eyes pleading with Anwar to believe what she said.  
She was rewarded with a relieved smile and an awkward, one-armed hug. Finding his mouth close to her ear during the hug, he whispered, “Thank you Rina, I won’t let you down again.”  
“When have you let me down?” she asked, struggling to recall any time where she had depended on him and he had not come through for her.  
He leaned back a bit from their hug. “When I let you get captured by the guards at Basra the other week. I should have known what was going to happen when we were invited to lunch and they were already ready for us.”  
“You didn’t let me down at all then. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s your parents for betraying you and me in the first place. And we’re not going to discuss this any further, it’s not going to accomplish anything to keep going over and over the same things.”  
She ran her fingers through his tangled hair, smoothing it back from his face. It was an affectionate gesture, and one that Anwar would become very familiar with when they were in private. Rina found it hard to show affection in public, unless it was a part of a scheme, as Anwar would learn.  
A final stroke of her hand down his cheek, a quick press of lips, and a question. “Are you less angry now?”  
A blissful smile answered her without the need for any words. But Anwar was incapable of not talking while he had breath. “Oh yes, terribly happy in fact.”  
“Good. We will have to work on keeping things that way.” She climbed gracefully to her feet, shaking her body to settle her tunic straight again. There would be time to have longer discussions when they weren’t an amusing side-show for their shipmates, he thought, scrambling awkwardly to his feet too, stepping firmly on the hem of his robe and nearly going head-first into the sea.  
Things back to normal then… Or as normal they would ever be on the ship with this crew.


End file.
